Mustard Doesn’T Go on Corn!: How Respect, Openness, and a Simple Process for Innovation Can Lead to Great Ideas

By Richard Trombetta

Do you feel your company is reaching its true potential in terms of innovation and the implementation of new ideas?

Do you ever feel frustrated because people focus on all the reasons ideas wont work without even understanding the ideas fully?

Do you feel everyone in your organization is always open to new ideas?

Have you tried various innovation initiatives that have not produced much more than fancy charts and graphs?

Do you have a process that promotes innovation-not just an innovation slogan or banner on the wall?

Do you want your company to experience an idea explosion?

Did you know that EVERYONE is creative?

Using scientific research, Mustard Doesnt Go on Corn! shows how to get EVERYONE in your company sharing and implementing new ideas. Using examples, stories, and tangible and practical action items, this book provides a simple road map for innovation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524649210

Richard Trombetta

Richard Trombetta is a 25 year veteran of corporate America working in such companies as GE, Fidelity Investments, and Thompson Financial. He also holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amhrest and a masters degree from Columbia University. Rich is the President and Founder of The Innovation Company, LLC in Acton, Massachusetts. He works with companies that want to UNLEASH the ideas of EVERYONE. His Clients include Nielsen, CARQUEST, BiogenIdec. GE, and Monster.com Rich is involved with several not for profit organizations and he and his family work each year to purchase thousands of backpacks for children living in homeless shelters.

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© 2016 Richard Trombetta. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/08/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5246-4922-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-4921-0 (e)

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I would like to dedicate this book to my wife who constantly encourages me to carry out my mission and to my daughters who never cease to teach me new and exciting things every day.

I would also like to dedicate this book to my parents, who continue to provide unconditional support despite their struggle to come up with an answer to the question ‘what does Rich do?’

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Innovation-What is it, why do we all want it so badly, and can it really be easy?

Chapter 2 - What’s up with the title of this book?

Chapter 3 - Kids get it

Chapter 4 - Are we really just talking about engagement?

Chapter 5 - Everyone has a role to play

Chapter 6 - Creating a POP! Culture® crazy vs. normal

Chapter 7 - Science weighs in

Chapter 8 - The fog of negativity

Chapter 9 - Schools need a lesson on innovation

Chapter 10 - The power of yes

Chapter 11 - A little more from science on the matter at hand

Chapter 12 - The show about nothing

Chapter 13 - I have a NEWIDEA-embedding key behaviors

Chapter 14 - But we already do brainstorming

Chapter 15 - It’s OK to judge

Chapter 16 - Show me the money

Chapter 17 - It’s the right thing to do

Chapter 18 - Putting it all into action

Chapter 19 - Who knew?

Appendix and Sources

Chapter 1

Innovation-What is it, why do we all want it so badly, and can it really be easy?

We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.

—Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

Imagine you are in 5th grade and, as part of a school project, you are given a large box of items and asked to build something. Pipe cleaners, pieces of wood, dowels, nails, glue, tape, straws, and fabric are just some of the materials that are contained in this box. There are probably about 30 items in all. In addition, you are encouraged to construct something on your own and, ideally, without parental involvement, and that has to do with the outdoors or the environment. The teachers will judge the projects and someone would be awarded first place. For what, we really have no idea. You get to work. Maybe you take out all of the materials and just start building. Maybe you sketch a plan. Maybe, if you are like my friend, Bob, you do something completely different. If you are like Bob you toss aside almost all of the items and keep only three that you have decided to use-a piece of wood, a nail, and a dowel. As the rest of us worked at building sail boats, camp sites, and model farms, Bob traveled a path that was so brilliant that it resulted in him being questioned at length-almost interrogated-by teachers and school administrators. Bob, completely on his own, built a sundial. How do I know he did this on his own? The dowel he used to was cracked where he hammered in the nail to attach it to the piece of wood. If an adult had helped him, I am confident that a pilot hole created with a drill to avoid cracking the dowel would have been the more expected approach. Also, the end of the dowel was not cut or sawed to make a smooth connection to the wood-another give away that Bob had done this on his own. Bob’s sundial was so contrarian to what everyone else had done that teachers were actually puzzled. Where did you come up with this idea? Who helped you? What did you do with the rest of the materials? It was almost like watching Dustin Hoffman in the movie Marathon Man being asked over and over again, is it safe? While the rest of us stood proudly by our creations-I am not sure any of us followed the rule around parental involvement-Bob, being cornered by towering adults, kept his cool. I saw this in Popular Mechanics. My Dad gets that at home. The interrogation stopped and the teachers convened about ten feet away from Bob to discuss the matter. Looking back at the situation it now seems similar to when there is a controversial call during a football game and the referees decide to do a video tape review, leaving us all waiting with anticipation as to if the call will stand or be overturned. After about two minutes, it happened. I can still see it as clear as day. Just like the football official who starts his sentence with after reviewing the play… one teacher made an announcement. We are excited to award Bob first prize for his project. Gasp! Being a close friend of Bob’s this was exciting and I was happy for him. However, for the rest of the class there was a collective what just happened? reaction that was a mix of confusion, anger, and sadness. The beautiful boats cut at precision angles. The cows made from pipe cleaners. The planes with propellers that spun. All of these lost to a sundial made with only three items, one of which was cracked in the building process. What Bob had done is what we will discuss in this book. He looked at something and, rather than go with complexity, he went for simplicity. He did not get constrained by traditional thinking, and, possibly most importantly, he lived in a household that fostered a culture of curiosity and positive reactions to ideas (I know this to be fact since I spent many days at his home building forts and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches). The culture in which he was raised encouraged this type of thinking-almost risk taking-when faced with problems. To Bob, throwing out almost all of the items and taking about ten minutes to build his project (I believe mine took days) was not risky nor was it unconventional. It was normal. It was innovative. It was EASY.

IBM, in a recent annual Global CEO Study, states that According to a major new IBM survey of more than 1,500 Chief Executive Officers from 60 countries and 33 industries worldwide, chief executives believe that—more than rigor, management discipline, integrity or even vision—successfully navigating an increasing complex world will require creativity. (IBM, 2011)¹ The study also found that less than half of global CEOs believe their enterprises are adequately prepared to handle a highly volatile, increasingly complex business environment. CEOs are confronted with massive shifts-new government regulations, changes in global economic power centers, accelerated industry transformation, growing volumes of data, rapidly evolving customer preferences-that, according to the study, can be overcome by instilling creativity throughout an organization.

In addition, The Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) reports that As the global playing field becomes increasingly level, many business forecasters are predicting that workforce creativity and innovation will be the most important factors in establishing and maintaining a competitive advantage. Logic, linear thinking and rule-based analysis-functions located in the left side of the human brain-will remain important, but are no longer sufficient to succeed in the global economy. Many experts, such as author Daniel Pink believe that, to succeed, organizations must place greater emphasis on right-brain functions: artistic, big-picture thinking and the ability to put things in context. (SHRM, 2007)²

Finally, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), conducted a similar study to IBM’s in which "The results of [a] survey of 1,757 executives couldn’t be clearer: innovation today is a key driver of organic growth for all companies—regardless of sector or geography.